SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Gonna Move - Another day, another departure. It's been 16 years since the Caps have been sellers at the deadline, and it's been nearly that long since they've been away from the District on a lengthy road trip as the NHL's trade deadline draws close. Tonight, the Caps are in Anaheim - where they've been since Sunday night - but three of the players who flew with them from Buffalo on Sunday have departed after being traded.

On Tuesday, the Caps dealt Marcus Johansson to Minnesota for a third-round pick and they swapped Erik Gustafsson and Boston's first-round pick in 2023 - obtained less than a week ago in the trade that sent Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway to the Bruins - to Toronto in exchange for defenseman Rasmus Sandin.
As the players were boarding the bus for Wednesday's morning skate prior to tonight's game against the Ducks, they learned that Lars Eller was headed to Colorado, with a second-round pick coming back in exchange. Eller was in the midst of his seventh season with the Caps and just shy of 500 games played with the team when he packed up to go off and join the Avalanche.
Five years ago this spring, Eller scored the two biggest goals in Washington's franchise history. Suddenly, with a few handshakes and a plane ticket, he is gone.
It's been a bruising trip, and the Caps have only played one game - a 7-4 loss to the Sabres on Sunday - and the deadline is still looming at 3 p.m. Eastern time on Friday. All the moves and the associated travel have had a taxing impact on the departed players' remaining teammates, and they've had an impact on the coaching staff, too, as it tries to put together a lineup for tonight's game.
"It moved from [Tuesday] and it's moving today as well," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of the challenges of putting together a lineup. "That's part of the business of the trade deadline."
And the deadline is still more than a full day away.
"It's tough no matter what," says Laviolette of the days leading up to the deadline. "You're taking guys that were part of a team and moving in a direction and they're now going somewhere else and it's tough on them, and it's tough on the guys that remain in the room as well. That's part of the trade deadline business, and teams doing what they need to do for their organizations."
Evgeny Kuznetsov missed practice because of illness on Tuesday, and although he hasn't had much in the way of food intake since, it's believed he will try to play tonight. Anthony Mantha looks to be ready to come off injured reserve and step back into the lineup.
Although Sandin arrived in Anaheim last night, he is unlikely to play tonight or until his work visa situation gets ironed out. He skated with his new teammates this morning and spent some time this afternoon going over video with Caps' assistant coach Kevin McCarthy.
"I was a little surprised," says Sandin of the deal that brings him to the Capitals. "Obviously it wasn't something that I was expecting. I'm sad to leave teammates and stuff like that, but at the same time, I'm really excited for the opportunity to come here. It's a great organization, and already seeing the guys for a couple of hours now, they seem really, really good."
Sandin is just 22, and he was drafted two slots ahead of Alex Alexeyev in the 2018 NHL Draft.
"He is a good young player," says Laviolette of Sandin. "He moves the puck well; he's got some offensive upside. It's a chance to put a young player in the organization that can move the puck and create offense. We're happy to have him here and we're excited to get him in the lineup, whenever that might be."
Sandin debuted in the NHL at 19, and he has logged 140 games in the League already. Longtime Caps fans might think of the great Calle Johansson and hope for a similar career arc for Sandin in a Washington sweater. Johansson was a first-round choice (14th overall) of the Buffalo Sabres in the 1985 draft, and after playing 118 games with the Sabres, he went to Washington in a deadline deal for Grant Ledyard and Clint Malarchuk, right around this time in 1989.
Like Sandin, Johansson was 22 at the time of the trade. He went on to play 15 seasons and 983 games in a Caps' sweater, and he is still the franchise's all-time leader in games played by a defenseman.
"I think I'm a pretty creative player," says Sandin. "I try to play the puck and do what I see out there, try to read the game. I think that's one of my strengths. I'm trying to be a two-way player, play good with the puck, good breakouts and stuff like that. I think also that I need to improve; I'm still young, I need to improve at everything, both offensively and defensively. But I think most of all I think defensive play and stuff like that, and make sure I'm in the right spot the whole time, especially now coming to a new team, learn the system and just try to fit in with a new team."
If Sandin turns out to be Johansson 2.0, the Caps will be thrilled, needless to say. They'd also be thrilled if he essentially replaces Orlov in the team's top four over the next several seasons.
"It's definitely a weird, weird feeling," says Washington winger Tom Wilson, who has been in the organization for more than a decade but has never experienced anything like what has unfolded over the last week. "Every time something happens you get a little bit pissed off, and it's kind of unfortunate. But then you realize that you've still got a job to do here, and you're still here. We've still got a good group here and we've still got a good team, and we've still got to go out and try to get two points every night. You never know what's going to happen.
"But it's kind of a weird, weird dynamic, and it's something I've never been through, fortunately. It's never easy to see teammates leaving, and it definitely makes for a different feeling in the dressing room once a week has passed and you've lost four or five of the guys you've battled with."
Prior to this week, the last time the Caps were in Anaheim was in November of 2021. Eller's stay in this fair city was prolonged by about a week when he came down with COVID during that trip; the Caps left him here to quarantine at the team hotel. On this trip to Anaheim, Eller is getting the jump out of town on his former teammates, off to join the defending champion Avalanche, who are hosting New Jersey tonight.
Such is the nature of the game, which is also a business. The other side of that coin is bringing in a promising young player such as Sandin.
"I know his game a little bit," says Wilson of Sandin. "I think the comparison to [Orlov] is good; some of his plays and some of his hits kind of look like a similar style. They both have high end skill and are guys who are willing to work and to play the game gritty when it needs to be played that way, and they are both just kind of overall solid on the back end. I'm obviously looking forward to getting to know him better,
"it's part of the business. One of your good friends goes, and then you bring a guy in that you know you're going to create a bond with and battle with. There has been such a good room here for years and I don't think that is going to change; that's important to us, the culture is important.
"We're excited to see him come in here and do his thing, and it's a good move to get a guy who's got a lot of upside and a lot of future ahead of him, a young and skilled defenseman."
In The Nets -Darcy Kuemper is the likely netminder for Washington tonight. He will be taking aim at his 18th win of the season. Lifetime against Anaheim, Kuemper is 6-6-0 in 14 appearances (all starts) against the Ducks, with a 2.61 GAA and a .909 save pct.
John Gibson is the expected goaltender for Anaheim tonight. Gibson stopped 41 shots against the Caps last Thursday in Washington to help the Ducks to a 4-2 victory. Lifetime against Washington, he is 3-3-3 in 10 appearances (all starts) with a shutout, a 2.97 GAA and a .908 save pct.
All Lined Up - Here's how the Caps and Ducks might look on Wednesday night at Honda Center:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
15-Milano, 17-Strome, 77-Oshie
73-Sheary, 19-Backstrom, 16-Smith
39-Mantha, 26-Dowd, 96-Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 3-Jensen
27-Alexeyev, 57-van Riemsdyk
52-Irwin, 25-McIlrath
Goaltenders
35-Kuemper
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
59-Protas
Injured/out
28-Brown (lower body)
38-Sandin (visa issues)
62-Hagelin (hip)
74-Carlson (upper body)
ANAHEIM
Forwards
11-Zegras, 16-Strome, 33-Silfverberg
49-Jones, 37-McTavish. 19-Terry
77-Vatrano, 21-Lundestrom, 20-Leason
44-Comtois, 38-Grant, 12-Megna
Defensemen
4-Fowler, 28-Beaulieu
13-Benoit, 22-Shattenkirk
4-Harrington, 45-White
Goaltenders
36-Gibson
1-Dostal
Healthy Extras
3-Klingberg
29-Kulikov
Injured
2-Moore (undisclosed)
5-Vaakanainen (undisclosed)
6-Drysdale (torn shoulder labrum)
14-Henrique (lower body)
41-Stolarz (lower body)